Contrasting landscapes of silvery bloom

There is a pleasing range of silver foliaged native plants. They range in size from groundcovers to trees. All the plants described are surviving and thriving in New England gardens.

Acacia covenyi is a rare wattle from the Moruya area in southern New South Wales. This is a medium to tall shrub that reaches a height of four metres in our garden. Both foliage and flowers are striking features. The foliage is silvery and the globular flower heads are a bright golden yellow. 

Shrubs are covered by blooms in the spring flowering season. Foliage and flowers make an arresting feature in the garden. To keep plants at their best, as the flowers fade, cut off each branch behind the spent blooms.

Wattles are usually propagated from seed but acacia covenyi will also grow from cuttings.

Cuttings mature and flower faster than seed grown plants.

Eremophila “kalbarri carpet” is a cultivar of eremophila glabra and is a dense groundcover that will cover an area of at least a square metre. Leaves are leaves are soft and silver-grey.

Tubular flowers are yellow and rich in nectar. Spring and summer are the main flowering periods. The blooms form a ring around the stems at the base of the leaves.

Spent flowers carpet the ground around plants. Foliage and flowers combine to create a stunning living carpet. Tip prune to keep the foliage dense.

Kalbarri carpet could be grown in the foreground of native garden beds or cottage gardens

Eucalyptus pulverulenta is known as the silver-leaved mountain gum and develops into a tall shrub or small tree.

The silver-leaved mountain gum is a rather unruly plant that resists all attempts to prune it into a tidy shrub and will develop into a straggly shrub. This growth habit gives plants an unusual appearance. This species is best grown in a shelterbelt or windbreak.

These native plants that will provide colour in your domestic landscape.